Mounting arrangement for brush and bail of a floor sweeper



Dec. 15, 1970 c, MILLER ETAL 3,546,729

MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT FOR BRUSH AND BAIL OF A FLOOR SWEEPER Filed Jan. 8, 1969 45 A t l Mal/anions Qsfar L//Z///6/' dkzzy M da/mzze/l United States Patent 3,546,729 MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT FOR BRUSH AND BAIL OF A FLOOR SWEEPER Lester C. Miller, Sussex, and Henry A. Schnuell, Milwaukee, Wis., assignors to ER. Manufacturing Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Jan. 8, 1969, Ser. No. 789,684 Int. Cl. A471 11/32 US. C]. 41 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mounting arrangement for the brush and bail of a floor sweeper which includes a U-shaped bracket having the ends of its legs pivoted to the sweeper casing at one side thereof; the bail and brush rotatably carried by the central portion of such legs, and the bridge of such bracket biased into engagement with an adjustable height stop at the other side of the casing. The force applied to the bail by the handle directly acts on the brush and through the bracket to the casing. The adjustable height stop sets the relative position of the brush casing and floor wheels for use on bare floors or carpeted floors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of invention This invention relates to a mounting arrangement and height adjustment for the brush, bail and casing of a manually operated floor sweeper.

Description of the prior art US. Pat. 3,034,163 shows a sweeper in which the relative vertical adjustment of brush to casing is accomplished by the positioning of the handle and bail. With the handle at one side of the casing the brush is lowered with respect to the casing' With the handle at the other side the brush is raised relative to the casing. Force applied to the handle is transmitted to casing and thence by springs to the brush.

US. Pat. 3,145,405 shows linkage with carns adjusted by a dial and crank for raising and lowering the brush relative to the casing. As in the previous prior art, the force applied to the handle is transmitted to the casing and thence by springs to the brush.

In US. Pat. 3,246,353 the brush is mounted on the inturned bearing ends of the bail so that force applied to the handle is transmitted directly to the brush. However the brush is not relatively vertically movable with respect to the casing. Instead the vertical movement of the wheels with respect to the casing and hence with respect to the brush is limited by an adjusting mecha nism also controlled by a dial.

In none of the prior art is the handle force transferred directly to the brush, and the positioning of the brush relative to the casing adjustably limited as to lowered position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The features of this invention are: (1) providing for brush adjustment relative to the casing so that the user (housewife) has visible indication of the adjustment (she sees the movement of the brush relative to the casing) (2) the use of the U-shaped bracket pivoted to the casing and supporting the brush and bail so that handle force is applied directly to the brush; and (3) a brush setting device with easy manipulation to a multiplicity of positions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawing: FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view in end elevation of a floor sweeper embodying the present invention, taken on the line 1-1 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view similar to that of FIG. 1 taken on the line 22 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the height adjustment cam, the high position being shown in full and the low position in broken lines;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the U-shaped bracket and adjusting cam for effecting brush height adjustment;

'FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a floor sweeper embodying the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 66 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing by reference numerals the mounting arrangement for the brush and bail embodying this invention is shown incorporated in a floor sweeper having a sweeper casing 10 provided with slots 12 in the top thereof near each end wall. A pair of partitions 14 (only one shown) are mounted within the casing spaced from each end wall to provide operating space and guiding support for floor wheels 16, dumping levers 18 for dust pans 20 and driving pulleys 22 for a revolving brush 24. All of these components are of well-known design and operation and no detail description will be made.

This sweeper is hand operated through a handle 26 demountably attached to a bail, the legs 28- of which extend into the casing through the slots 12 from which the dumping levers 18 project from within the casing. One essential feature of this invention is the direct connection of the bail to the revolving brush so that force applied to the handle 26 is transmitted directly to the brush. Thus the user can gauge and easily control the sweeping pressure. To accomplish this a U-shaped bracket has the outer ends of its legs 30- pivoted to the ends of the casing adjacent the front side (right as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2) as indicated at 32. Located approximately at the longitudinal central portion of each of such legs is an inwardly projecting trunnion 34 on which both the brush 24 and the bail legs 28 are rotatably mounted. Thus pressure on the handle is transferred by the bail directly to the brush 24.

In order for the sweeper to be useable on bare or carpeted floors the height of the brush relative to the floor wheels and casing is adjustable. To this end, the U-shaped bracket has a bridge 36 which rides down on a rotatable cam 38, being biased downwardly by a pair of tension springs 40. The cam 38 is secured to the top of the casing 10 and is rotated by a dial member 42 mounted on the outside of the top of such casing. The cam as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is adjusted for carpeted floors. In the broken lines of FIG. 3 the cam is shown adjusted for bare floors, linoleum, or tile or the like.

We claim:

1. A mounting arrangement for the brush and bail of a floor sweeper comprising:

a casing;

a U-shaped bracket in said casing having legs and a bridge, the ends of said legs pivoted to said casing at one side thereof;

a bail and a brush rotatably carried by said legs between said ends and said bridge;

adjustable cam means on said casing at the other side thereof engageable with said bridge to limit the downward swing thereof; and

spring means urging said bridge downwardly into engagement with said cam means.

4 2. A mounting arrangement as defined in claim 1 in References Cited which UNITED STATES PATENTS said bail and brush are carried by a trunnion projecting inwardly from each of said legs and posi- 1,313,261 8/1919 Comer 1541UX tioned longitudinally centrally thereof. 5 fi g i i I 1 3 A mountlng arrangement as defined m 0 mm 1 in 3,246,353 4/1966 Farnsworth 15*41 which:

said adjustable cam means is a rotatable cam mounted within said casing and a dial member located outside EDWARD ROBERTS Pnmary Exammer of said casing. 10

12g}; 35))0 UNITED STATES I CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIQN 7 Patent No. 31546 ,729 t Dated December I 15; 1970 Inventofls) Lester C. Miller and Hepry A. Schnuell It is certified that error appears in the above-identified Putin! and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1,- line 5, "E. R. Manufacturing Company" should read E. R. Wagner Manufacturing Company Signed and sealed this 23rd day of March l971.

Attest: W

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, Attesting Officer Commissioner of Paten 

